Clutch



W. A. C H RYST CLUTCH'.

Filed July 11, 1922V Patented oct. 21, 1924.

UNITED STATES,

N l 1,512,675 PATENT OFFICE.

i WILLIAM A. CHRYST, .OF-DAYTON, OHIO?. ASSIGNOR TO TI-IE DAYTON ENGINEERING LABORATORIES COMPANY, OF DAYTON, OHIO', A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

CLUTCH.

Application led July 11, 1922. .Serial No. 574,172.

T0 all whom t may concern: t

Be it known that I, VVTLLTAM A, ,CHRYSL a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Dayton, county of Montgomery,

State of Ohio` have invented certain new and useful' Improvements in Clutches, of `which the following is a full, `clear, and exact `description. N

' This invention relates to overrunnlng clutches and its principal objects are to improve the operation, and promote the life ofclutches vof this type. i

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view, ta-ken on the` camY side, of an overrunning clutch embodying they present invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially on the line '2 2 `of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the clutch taken from the opposite side from Fig. 1, as shown bythe arrow marked 3 in Fig. 2;

. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the clutch taken substantially on the line y 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a side view of a roller employed in the clutch; f

Fig. 6 is an end view of the roller;

Fig. 7 is a side view of a modified form of a roller;

Fig. 8 is an end view thereof and Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view of a modified form of clutch.

In Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, 10 is the outer clutch element or shell formed with a radial wall 12 supporting a cylindrical flange 13 which substantially encloses the innerclutch elements, 14 are driving lugsformed on the wall 12 and adapted to seat in slots in a driving shaft (notfshown) and 15 are gear teeth formed on the outer surface'of the cylindrical flange 13. This type of clutch is especially adapted to drive the generator of an ignition system for an internal-combustion engine. For this purpose the clutch is driven from the shell andthe teeth 15 are employed vto vdrive a distributor in timed relation with the engine to s upply sparking impulses to the several cylinders of the engine. l

16 is an internal clutch element or cam having a central aperture. 17 adapted to receive the shaft of the generator armature driven by the clutch through a key (not shown) seating in a radial Slot 18 in the inner face` of the ca m.. If desired the cam may be the driving.v member of the clutch and the yshell the driven member. Cam 16 is formed with flatted portions 19 extending acrossthe cam and'xterminating in an vabrupt shoulder 20`at one end of the surface and merging into the outer cylindrical surface 21 of the cam at the point 22 at the vopposite end of the flatted portion. The number (herein 6) of flatbed surfaces is the same as the number of rollers 23 lo- 1 cated transversely of the cam and shell in the annular channel 24 provided between the two. v

In one form of roller employed in the present invention, the'l roller is formed as a cylindrical shell or tube having a longitudinal opening 25 which permits lthe roller to yield under compression, the roller being formed also with a spiral slotl 26 which eX- tends through the wall of the roll and 1caues the roller to be more resilient under These rollers are mounted in a cage comprising side members 27, 28., held in spaced relation by tie rods 29, 30, riveted to the side members and located in pairs relative to each'of the rollers, the rods of each pair being separated by and grouped closely about each roller, a spacing of about 1/64 Iof an inch from the roller being preferred.

The rollers are secured in this cage by yportions 31 (Fig. 2) of the side plates of the cage struck inwardly into the hollow center of each roller. The cage is held in position on the cam and within the shell 10 by an inwardly projecting portion -32 on the inner side plate 28 f the cage, which shoulder rests in an annu ar recess 33 formed between thecam 16 and side wall 12 of the shell.

Mounted in diametrically oppositeI positions in the cam and projecting in non-radial directions therefrom, are two plungers 34 movably mounted in cylindrical holes 35 in the cam and yieldingly pressed outwardly that a small number of Vholes are formed in the cam, the cam and clutch can be made smaller and stronger than is possible when the cage is omitted and-a separate spring is employed with each roller. A v

' The tie rods 30 are spaced a longer disi tance from the camvthanthe tie rods 29 to avoid limiting lthe reverse rotation of the cam in the shell by the plunger 34 striking a tie trod 30. -The small space between a pair of tie rods and an interposed roller permits afreeoperation of the roller. The

tie rods prevent the roller .taking a diagonal position on a lattedsurface 19 and locking erably` llarger than the solidl rollers em- .ployed heretofore. Their size and resiliency- `promote the life and the operation of the rollersby avoiding jamming and failure to release when the clutch overruns. Duev to the fact that a roller is compressed underl load, the reactions of the forces in a roller tendto move the roller into a releasing "po- Y sition when the clutch overruns thus avoid-I ing seizing or sticking. The resiliency of the rollers also cushions the operation of L the clutch and tends to distribute the load over several of thel rollers when, due to .errors in manufacture or the limits within which the manufacturing is done, one or a part of the rollerswould otherwise takethe load. Should the tie rods 29, 30, be spaced farther from the rollers and a roller become wedged in a diagonal position, the pinchin of the corners of the roller between' the shee and thev cam; and 'the reaction of the roller from this pinching, will tend to straighten the roller on thel cam.

Y In Fig. 9 is shown a modification of my invention in which the clutch is driven from the cam 37, the `:shell 38 is the driven member, and rollers 23 are located in a cage`39 between tie rods 29, 30, springs such as shown in Fig. 4 being omitted as centrifugal force tends to throw the rollers out- ,y Wardly and perform the same function as the sprlng pressed plungers 34 in the clutch illustrated in Fig. 4 which is driven from the shell. Due to the fact that the spring pressed plungers 34 are omitted, the structure-shown in Fig. 9 can be made smaller than that shown in Fig. 4.and have capacity for the same load.`

K In Figs. 7 and 8 is shown a"modified roller 40 made in the formof a short length of tubing having an axial bore 41, and preferably having a greater resiliency than the solid `rollers now commonly used but not as great a resiliency as the slotted rollers 23. The resiliency of the rollers is governed by the material employed in the roller and the thickness of theV roller wall.

While the forms of mechanisms herein shown and described, constitute preferred forms of embodiments of the invention, it is lto be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow. y

-What1 claim is as follows:

1. A clutch having driving` and driven members; and a longitudinally flexible resilient rotatable element adapted to form a y.driving connection between the said members. f

2. A clutch havingy driving and driven members; anda relatively large hollow spirally slotted roller adapted to form a driving connection between the said members. i

3. A clutchhaving drivi,y and driven members; -a plurality of lilolow spirally slotted resilient rollers adapted to lock said members together; and means acting on the rollers for moving them simultaneously to or from locking position.

Iny testimony whereof I hereto aix my signature.

W'ILLIAM A, CHRYST. Witnesses: f

ROY F. JOHN: 

